Caution: Translations of Quran and Ḥadīth may lead to possible misapplications and misinterpretations. This site is intended for students of sacred knowledge that are proficient in comprehending classical Arabic and have a strong foundation in Islamic sciences. Also note that religious injunctions rely on several aspects beyond what one may glean through reading individual aḥādīth.
muslim:2257[Chain 1] Abū Bakr b. Abū Shaybah > Ḥafṣ And ʾAbū Muʿāwiyah [Chain 2] Abū Kurayb > Abū Muʿāwiyah > al-Aʿmash [Chain 3] Abū Saʿīd al-Ashaj > Wakīʿ > al-Aʿmash > Abū Ṣāliḥ > Abū Hurayrah

It is better for a man's belly to be stuffed with pus which corrodes it than to stuff (one's mind) with frivolous poetry. Abu Bakr has reported it with a slight variation of wording.  

مسلم:٢٢٥٧حَدَّثَنَا أَبُو بَكْرِ بْنُ أَبِي شَيْبَةَ حَدَّثَنَا حَفْصٌ وَأَبُو مُعَاوِيَةَ ح وَحَدَّثَنَا أَبُو كُرَيْبٍ حَدَّثَنَا أَبُو مُعَاوِيَةَ كِلاَهُمَا عَنِ الأَعْمَشِ ح وَحَدَّثَنَا أَبُو سَعِيدٍ الأَشَجُّ حَدَّثَنَا وَكِيعٌ حَدَّثَنَا الأَعْمَشُ عَنْ أَبِي صَالِحٍ عَنْ أَبِي هُرَيْرَةَ قَالَ

قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ ﷺ لأَنْ يَمْتَلِئَ جَوْفُ الرَّجُلِ قَيْحًا يَرِيهِ خَيْرٌ مِنْ أَنْ يَمْتَلِئَ شِعْرًا قَالَ أَبُو بَكْرٍ إِلاَّ أَنَّ حَفْصًا لَمْ يَقُلْ يَرِيهِ  


See similar narrations below:

Collected by Bukhārī, Muslim, Ibn Mājah, Aḥmad, Ibn Ḥibbān, Ṭabarānī, Suyūṭī
bukhari:6155ʿUmar b. Ḥafṣ from my father > al-Aʿmash > Abū Ṣāliḥ > Abū Hurayrah

Messenger of Allah ﷺ; said, "It is better for anyone of you that the inside of his body be filled with pus which may consume his body, than it be filled with poetry."  

البخاري:٦١٥٥حَدَّثَنَا عُمَرُ بْنُ حَفْصٍ حَدَّثَنَا أَبِي حَدَّثَنَا الأَعْمَشُ قَالَ سَمِعْتُ أَبَا صَالِحٍ عَنْ أَبِي هُرَيْرَةَ ؓ قَالَ

قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ ﷺ لأَنْ يَمْتَلِئَ جَوْفُ رَجُلٍ قَيْحًا يَرِيهِ خَيْرٌ مِنْ أَنْ يَمْتَلِئَ شِعْرًا  

muslim:2258Muḥammad b. al-Muthanná And Muḥammad b. Bashhār > Muḥammad b. Jaʿfar > Shuʿbah > Qatādah > Yūnus b. Jubayr > Muḥammad b. Saʿd > Saʿd

It is better for the belly of any one of you to be stuffed with pus rather than to stuff (one's mind) with poetry.  

مسلم:٢٢٥٨حَدَّثَنَا مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ الْمُثَنَّى وَمُحَمَّدُ بْنُ بَشَّارٍ قَالاَ حَدَّثَنَا مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ جَعْفَرٍ حَدَّثَنَا شُعْبَةُ عَنْ قَتَادَةَ عَنْ يُونُسَ بْنِ جُبَيْرٍ عَنْ مُحَمَّدِ بْنِ سَعْدٍ عَنْ سَعْدٍ

عَنِ النَّبِيِّ ﷺ قَالَ لأَنْ يَمْتَلِئَ جَوْفُ أَحَدِكُمْ قَيْحًا يَرِيهِ خَيْرٌ مِنْ أَنْ يَمْتَلِئَ شِعْرًا  

ibnmajah:3759Abū Bakr > Ḥafṣ And ʾAbū Muʿāwiyah Wawakīʿ > al-Aʿmash > Abū Ṣāliḥ > Abū Hurayrah

"If a man were to fill his stomach completely with pus until it destroyed him, that would be better for him than filling (his mind) with poetry."  

ابن ماجة:٣٧٥٩حَدَّثَنَا أَبُو بَكْرٍ حَدَّثَنَا حَفْصٌ وَأَبُو مُعَاوِيَةَ وَوَكِيعٌ عَنِ الأَعْمَشِ عَنْ أَبِي صَالِحٍ عَنْ أَبِي هُرَيْرَةَ قَالَ

قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ ﷺ لأَنْ يَمْتَلِئَ جَوْفُ الرَّجُلِ قَيْحًا حَتَّى يَرِيَهُ خَيْرٌ لَهُ مِنْ أَنْ يَمْتَلِئَ شِعْرًا إِلاَّ أَنَّ حَفْصًا لَمْ يَقُلْ يَرِيَهُ  

ahmad:1507Ḥasan > Ḥammād b. Salamah > Qatādah > ʿUmar b. Saʿd b. Mālik > Saʿd

"If a man were to fill his stomach completely with pus until it destroyed him, that would be better for him than filling (his mind) with poetry." (Using translation from Ibn Mājah 3760)   

أحمد:١٥٠٧حَدَّثَنَاه حَسَنٌ حَدَّثَنَا حَمَّادُ بْنُ سَلَمَةَ عَنْ قَتَادَةَ عَنْ عُمَرَ بْنِ سَعْدِ بْنِ مَالِكٍ عَنْ سَعْدٍ

عَنْ رَسُولِ اللهِ ﷺ قَالَ لأنْ يَمْتَلِئَ جَوْفُ أَحَدِكُمْ قَيْحًا حَتَّى يَرِيَهُ خَيْرٌ مِنْ أَنْ يَمْتَلِئَ شِعْرًا  

ahmad:1569Yaḥyá > Shuʿbah > Qatādah > Yūnus b. Jubayr > Muḥammad b. Saʿd from his father

Messenger of Allah ﷺ; said, "It is better for anyone of you that the inside of his body be filled with pus which may consume his body, than it be filled with poetry." (Using translation from Bukhārī 6155)  

أحمد:١٥٦٩حَدَّثَنَا يَحْيَى عَنْ شُعْبَةَ عَنْ قَتَادَةَ عَنْ يُونُسَ بْنِ جُبَيْرٍ عَنْ مُحَمَّدِ بْنِ سَعْدٍ عَنْ أَبِيهِ قَالَ

قَالَ رَسُولُ اللهِ ﷺ لأَنْ يَمْتَلِئَ جَوْفُ الرَّجُلِ قَيْحًا خَيْرٌ مِنْ أَنْ يَمْتَلِئَ شِعْرًا  

ahmad:9086Aswad > Sharīk > al-Aʿmash > Abū Ṣāliḥ > Abū Hurayrah

The Prophet ﷺ said, "It is better for a man to fill the inside of his body with pus than to fill it with poetry." (Using translation from Bukhārī 6154)  

أحمد:٩٠٨٦حَدَّثَنَا أَسْوَدُ حَدَّثَنَا شَرِيكٌ عَنِ الْأَعْمَشِ عَنْ أَبِي صَالِحٍ عَنْ أَبِي هُرَيْرَةَ قَالَ

قَالَ رَسُولُ اللهِ ﷺ لَأَنْ يَمْتَلِئَ جَوْفُ أَحَدِكُمْ قَيْحًا يَرِيهِ خَيْرٌ لَهُ مِنْ أَنْ يَمْتَلِئَ شِعْرًا  

ahmad:7874al-Faḍl b. Dukayn > Sufyān > al-Aʿmash > Dhakwān > Abū Hurayrah

Messenger of Allah ﷺ; said, "It is better for anyone of you that the inside of his body be filled with pus which may consume his body, than it be filled with poetry." (Using translation from Bukhārī 6155)  

أحمد:٧٨٧٤حَدَّثَنَا الْفَضْلُ بْنُ دُكَيْنٍ حَدَّثَنَا سُفْيَانُ عَنِ الْأَعْمَشِ عَنْ ذَكْوَانَ عَنْ أَبِي هُرَيْرَةَ قَالَ

قَالَ رَسُولُ اللهِ ﷺ لَأَنْ يَمْتَلِئَ جَوْفُ الرَّجُلِ قَيْحًا يَرِيهِ خَيْرٌ لَهُ مِنْ أَنْ يَمْتَلِئَ شِعْرًا  

ahmad:8655Aswad b. ʿĀmir > Sharīk > al-Aʿmash > Abū Ṣāliḥ > Abū Hurayrah

The Prophet ﷺ said, "It is better for a man to fill the inside of his body with pus than to fill it with poetry." (Using translation from Bukhārī 6154)  

أحمد:٨٦٥٥حَدَّثَنَا أَسْوَدُ بْنُ عَامِرٍ قَالَ حَدَّثَنَا شَرِيكٌ عَنِ الْأَعْمَشِ عَنْ أَبِي صَالِحٍ عَنْ أَبِي هُرَيْرَةَ قَالَ

قَالَ رَسُولُ اللهِ ﷺ لَأَنْ يَمْتَلِئَ جَوْفُ أَحَدِكُمْ قَيْحًا يَرِيهِ خَيْرٌ لَهُ مِنْ أَنْ يَمْتَلِئَ شِعْرًا  

ahmad:10197Wakīʿ > al-Aʿmash > Abū Ṣāliḥ > Abū Hurayrah

"If a man were to fill his stomach completely with pus until it destroyed him, that would be better for him than filling (his mind) with poetry." (Using translation from Ibn Mājah 3759)   

أحمد:١٠١٩٧حَدَّثَنَا وَكِيعٌ قَالَ حَدَّثَنَا الْأَعْمَشُ عَنِ أَبِي صَالِحٍ عَنِ أَبِي هُرَيْرَةَ قَالَ

قَالَ رَسُولُ اللهِ ﷺ لَأَنْ يَمْتَلِئَ جَوْفُ أَحَدِكُمْ قَيْحًا حَتَّى يَرِيَهُ خَيْرٌ لَهُ مِنْ أَنْ يَمْتَلِئَ شِعْرًا  

ibnhibban:5777al-Faḍl b. al-Ḥubāb al-Jumaḥī > Musaddad b. Musarhad > Abū Muʿāwiyah > al-Aʿmash > Abū Ṣāliḥ > Abū Hurayrah

"If a man were to fill his stomach completely with pus until it destroyed him, that would be better for him than filling (his mind) with poetry." (Using translation from Ibn Mājah 3760)   

ابن حبّان:٥٧٧٧أَخْبَرَنَا الْفَضْلُ بْنُ الْحُبَابِ الْجُمَحِيُّ حَدَّثَنَا مُسَدَّدُ بْنُ مُسَرْهَدٍ حَدَّثَنَا أَبُو مُعَاوِيَةَ عَنِ الْأَعْمَشِ عَنْ أَبِي صَالِحٍ عَنْ أَبِي هُرَيْرَةَ قَالَ

قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ ﷺ «لَأَنْ يَمْتَلِئَ جَوْفُ أَحَدِكُمْ قَيْحًا حَتَّى يَرِيَهُ خَيْرٌ مِنْ أَنْ يَمْتَلِئَ شِعْرًا»  

tabarani:6132

"If a man were to fill his stomach completely with pus until it destroyed him, that would be better for him than filling (his mind) with poetry." (Using translation from Ibn Mājah 3760)   

الطبراني:٦١٣٢وَبِإِسْنَادِهِ قَالَ

قَالَ رَسُولُ اللهِ ﷺ «لِأَنْ يَمْتَلِئَ جَوْفُ أَحَدِكُمْ قَيْحًا حَتَّى يَرِيَهُ خَيْرٌ مِنْ أَنْ يَمْتَلِئَ شِعْرًا»  

suyuti:17110a
Request/Fix translation

  

السيوطي:١٧١١٠a

"لأَنْ يَمْتَلِئَ جَوْفُ رَجُل قَيحًا حَتَّى يرِيه خَيرٌ لَهُ مِنْ أنْ يَمْتَلئَ شِعْرًا".

. . . .  

[حم] أحمد [خ] البخاري [م] مسلم [د] أبو داود [ت] الترمذي [هـ] ابن ماجة عن أبي هريرة، [حم] أحمد [م] مسلم [هـ] ابن ماجة عن سعيد بن أبي وقاص، [طب] الطبرانى في الكبير عن سلمان، [طب] الطبرانى في الكبير عن ابن عمر